Top 10 Grand Theft Auto Games

This franchise is among the most storied in all of gaming, Grand Theft Auto single-handedly defined Open Sandbox games as we know them today and we're here to rate the games from worst to best. Join http://www.watchmojo.com as we count down our picks for the Top 10 Grand Theft Auto Games. Special Thanks to our users "Hugo Patino-Cano" "Matthew Scambler" "arimazzie" & "OmegaJackRed666" for suggesting this topic on our website Watchmojo.com/suggest

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Top 10 Grand Theft Auto Games

Top 10 Grand Theft Auto Games

This franchise is among the most storied in all of gaming, but we want to pick the best of the best. Welcome to WatchMojo.com and today we’ll be counting down our picks for the top 10 “Grand Theft Auto” games.

For our list, we ranked the best non-DLC games from the “GTA” series, so titles like “The Ballad of Gay Tony” are out, but the “Stories” titles are in. Please be advised: this video contains mature content.

#10: “Grand Theft Auto 2” (1999)

We’re staring things off with the games that still show that topdown 2D is still fun. Not only that, but “GTA 2” brought in some features that became important to the franchise for years to come, like allowing you to save your progress, and letting you undertake different missions for the various gangs that haunted the retro-futuristic city known as “Anywhere, USA.”

#9: “Grand Theft Auto” (1997)

This title got the series off to an excellent start and was a pioneer for sandbox games, allowing players to choose how they reached their destinations. You’ll definitely find a cool way to get yourself to your endpoint, since, like all the other iterations to follow, you could steal almost any car in the game. As this meant you were playing as a criminal, it was also the first of many games get the Moral Police up on their soapbox.

#8: “Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories” (2006)

Vice City was one of our favorite venues, but it was considered wishful thinking that we’d ever get to take it on the go. How wrong we were. In this PSP powerfouse, not only could you take over businesses as you could before, but the title’s Empire missions allow you to control them and help them grow. Of course, if you’re not one for management, you can still have a blast piloting choppers around the city.

#7: “Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories” (2005)

This was the first game to authentically replicate the GTA experience on a handheld system. It’s a prequel to “GTA III,” but it takes place in the same location, so you can further explore Shoreside Vale, Staunton Island, and Portland, the islands that form the bulk of the map. LCS never felt like a mobile compromise, as it proved with devious missions like when you have to assassinate celebrities before they can make it to a radio station.

#6: “Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars” (2009)

The top-down view in this title brought back fond memories of the pre-“GTA III” games, but it offers more than just nostalgia. The title explores uncharted territory for the series by telling the stories of the Chinese triad gangs. Their adventures make for vulgar fun, like in the minigame where you buy and sell drugs like some underbelly stock market in this definitive handheld GTA game.

#5: “Grand Theft Auto III” (2001)

This game took the series in a new direction by introducing a 3D game engine. It also represented a new high for the games by adding an unprecedented number of characters, cutscenes, and places to explore, creating an experience unlike any other. Making the Open Sandbox genre its own with its living urban setting, and the freedom to go on killing rampages, notably also got the moral police to put their soapbox’s on their rooftops.

#4: “Grand Theft Auto IV” (2008)

This game brought the series into HD with impressive results. The story of protagonist Niko Bellic, an immigrant trying to make his way in Liberty City, will compel you unlike any prior GTA narrative. Rockstar also refined the combat system, allowing you to target enemies better and take cover effectively. Even still, antagonist Dimitri Rascalov and his henchman can be a lot to handle.

#3: “Grand Theft Auto: Vice City” (2002)

Even if you’re not old enough to remember the 80s, you’ve definitely heard stories, and this game helps bring them to life. The depiction of Miami Florida circa 1986 is packed with incredible details, right down to the angular sports cars and synth heavy radio stations. The game is also significant for being the first title in the series with a fully voiced protagonist, with Ray Liotta as the memorable Tommy Vercetti.

#2: “Grand Theft Auto V” (2013)

For the first time in the series, you play from the perspective of three different characters, and you get three times the mayhem. Whether you play as Michael, Trevor, or Franklin, or you decide to take your crazy action into GTA Online … when it’s working, you won’t get bored of hijacking military planes and driving dirt bikes across the seemingly endless environment.

Before we get to our number one, let’s take a look at a dishonorable mention:
“Grand Theft Auto: Advance” (2004)

#1: “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas” (2004)

This franchise has earned its legendary reputation, but no installment was quite as great as this game. You play as Carl Johnson, a gangbanger who returns home to find himself in danger from corrupt cops and rival mobsters. Don’t worry, because your proficiency for weapons increases every time RPG style for … pretty much everything. Amazingly the Moral Police was able to get the game recalled after the discovery of the unfinished sex minigame, infamously dubbed the Hot Coffee Mod. None the less, it did come back to take the top stop.

Do you agree with our list? Which GTA did you horrify your parents with. For more crazy violent top 10s published daily, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.